http://www.salon.com/news/healthcare_reform/index.html?story=/opinion/conason/2010/02/25/summitryPropaganda meets professor at the health summit
The Republicans brought standard propaganda to Blair House -- where the president confronted them with basic facts
By Joe Conason
As President Obama sat listening to the Republicans during his all-day summit, he hardly seemed surprised by the absence of constructive ideas or bipartisan compromise. Had he harbored any such forlorn hopes when the healthcare meeting commenced on Thursday morning, his GOP guests at Blair House swiftly restored a sense of political reality: They were determined to repeat the familiar phrases and arguments they have rehearsed for months -- just as they promised to do when they grudgingly accepted Obama's invitation.
Yet that doesn’t mean the seven hours or so of (mostly) polite jabbering were wasted.
Although much too long to be called a teachable moment, today’s session offered a real chance to learn what leading Republican politicians really think about healthcare, insurance companies and working people who don’t enjoy the same kind of coverage that we provide for them. And it also emphasized what Americans already know and appreciate about Obama -- namely, that he has allowed the opposition many chances to seek bipartisan compromise, only to be spurned in the most cynical way every time.snip//
The Republican leaders were unafraid to sound ignorant, as Minority Leader John Boehner demonstrated when he claimed, toward the end of the day, that medical malpractice insurance for doctors is "the biggest cost driver" in American healthcare. He deserved to be corrected less gently than he was by the president and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., but perhaps they make allowances for Boehner, who might be dim enough to believe whatever he parrots from the script.
snip//
In his summation, Obama was as masterful as usual in such circumstances. He outlined the potential areas of agreement, delineated the sharp points of dispute, and explained why Democrats should not be intimidated by polls. He said again that his purpose is to achieve what every other advanced nation does for its people – to provide health security for all at a reasonable cost to the nation. He offered a final chance to seek consensus between the parties, to be followed by "hard choices."
We’re not starting over, he told the country, and we’re going to pass a bill. Having laid down that final marker, he and the Democrats cannot flinch again.
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